Broadcast Film Critics Association to honor Forest Whitaker

The Broadcast Film Critics Association will honor Forest Whitaker at the 19th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards. The award ceremony will take place on Jan. 16.

Whitaker will be given the Joel Siegel Award by Oprah Winfrey. Other A-list Hollywood celebrities will be honored at the event. Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater will receive the Critics’ Choice Louis XIII Genius Award for their work on Before Midnight, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Whitaker’s impressive career includes wining an Academy Award for his work in The Last King of Scotland. A celebrity who embraces humanitarian causes, Whitaker founded the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative that helps people affected by violence. Its mission is to promote peace.

According to a statement posted at Deadline, the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards are given each year by BFCA to honor achievement in film. The group represents 280 television, radio, and online critics. Like the Golden Globe Awards, the BFCA Awards can be a predictor for the Oscars.

The ceremony will take place at the Barker Hanger in Santa Monica. It will be hosted by Aisha Tyler, and will air on The CW.